Beantown Beckons

Mom is headed to Boston today for various meetings, and we'll have dinner together tonight, but what she's most excited for is Gwennie's arrival into Logan Airport at 9:15pm. Mom's seen Gwennie once since we dropped her off at school in August, and that was in December when Gwennie had her wisdom teeth pulled and Mom was happily on narcotics. Looking forward to this long weekend together has certainly helped Mom stay focused during this yucky week.

She had treatment #6 on Monday and her neulasta injection on Tuesday. Her lab work shows absolutely nothing alarming, which I believe has to do a lot with how diligent Mom has been about drinking obscene amounts of water daily and washing her hands frequently. Regardless, this week has been filled with the symptoms she'd gotten so used to living without- nausea, upset stomach...I sound like a Pepto commercial. She has been working so hard these last few weeks, and chemo does have a cumulative effects, so none of this is unexpected or worrisome. She's got the tools to combat every symptom under the sun, and is doing so rigorously.

She continues to get delivered the most amazing food from her Helping Hands network, not to mention a shipment of chocolate biscotti and cookies from her friend Beth out west, and more delicious goodies from Lynn G. You ladies are really putting her self control to the test! She has gained back 10 lbs since her surgery, and is determined to stay there.

All in all, she feels great. Next week is her "off week," then the fourth and FINAL cycle begins.

One more little thing- remember waaaaaay back before Mom's surgery when I donated blood and said, "She probably won't need a transfusion, but it's still a good thing to do...blah blah blah." Well I just got a postcard from the Children's donor center saying it's time for me to come back. Since I donate two pints of red blood cells at a time, I can only go ever 16 weeks, but the average donor can go every 8 weeks because they only donate one pint at a time. Which means, if all of you who were able to donate, did so at the beginning, and then did so again 8 weeks later, you'd now be coming around be being able to donate again. That would be 16 lives each one of us could have saved between late November and now. Hop to it!